Bee Stings 

Honey bees leave a characteristic sting apparatus embedded in the skin 
after the bee flies away.  It contains a venom sac and muscles that pump 
venom into the skin.  The sting apparatus delivers the entire content of 
venom within two minutes of sting implantation, so rapid removal from 
the skin can reduce venom delivery - use a sideways scrape and don't 
squeeze.   A bee stings only once, because of the barbed stinger. 
Africanized bees do not deliver more venom than European honey bees
and their venom is not more potent.

 
 
Arizona Health Sciences Center Photos, with the assistance of Justin Schmidt PhD 
 
References:  
Schumacher MJ, Tveten MS, Egen NB:  Rate and quantity of delivery of venom from honey bee stings. J Allergy Clin Immunol  93:831-5, 1994
Schumacher MJ, Schmidt JO, Egen NB, Dillon KA:  Quantity, analysis and lethality of European and Africanized honey bee venoms.  Am J Trop Med Hyg 43:78-86, 1989.
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